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Moderate: Cancer, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Blood, Medical content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Confinement
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Cancer, Medical content
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Blood, Grief
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Abandonment
So do you.
So do those you love and those you hate.
No one can feel them.
You just know they are there.
This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me."
Have you ever met a 'monster' and stopped to think about what made them the way they are? Or are you one of those who has always skirted past such monsters in cold deserted streets hunched up against the dusty floor, not stirring to either offer help or ask how they are?
Translated from the Korean by Joosun Lee, 'Almond' begins with our narrator Yungae retelling the events starting from his birth, his boyhood days to his early teens.
These lines from the prologue set the tone for rest of this incredibly compact, quick paced novel about a boy who feels no emotions, who is incapable of any feeling or empathy. The disease is called Alexithymia which renders Yunjae's amygdala (the 'almond' in his brain) imperceptible to human emotions like love, happiness, anger, or pain. He can't react if someone physically injures him.
Throughout his childhood, Yunjae has been prepared by his mother & later his grandma to 'normalise' his behaviour and to put on an act of showcasing emotions in everyday situations even if he feels none, in order to blend in with the kids at school.
Christened with all kinds of names like a freak, a robot, a weirdo - he is affectionately called 'monster' by his grandma. But what happens if this solid support system is uprooted by an unforeseen tragedy? Yunjae must learn to survive and adapt in a cruel and unforgiving world, navigating the dark seas of emotions all alone. In this journey of self actualisation, he will come across some unexpected friends, a lot of bullies, a monster- another monster like him that will bind them together in an inseparable bond.
'Almond' is a story replete with beautiful descriptions of Seoul set against the backdrop of changing seasons in the streets, but is also haunted by the memories of sickness & tragedies. The ending will make you feel warm, teary & hopeful in unlikely friendships and about 'monsters' who can be saved. #ipreview via @preview.app
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent